‹‹‹ Vitr. 4.3.1 | Table of Contents | Vitr. 4.3.3 ›››
2It is necessary that the triglyphs stand centrally over the columns, and that the metopæ which are between the triglyphs should be as broad as high. Over the columns, at the angles of the building, the triglyphs are set at the extremity of the frieze, and not over the centre of the columns. In this case the metopæ adjoining the angular triglyphs are not square, but wider than the others by half the width of the triglyph. Those who resolve to make the metopæ equal, contract the extreme intercolumniation half a triglyph’s width. It is, however, a false method, either to lengthen the metopæ or to contract the intercolumniations; and the antients, on this account, appear to have avoided the use of the Doric order in their sacred buildings.
2For the triglyphs ought to be placed so as to correspond to the centres of the columns, and the metopes between the triglyphs ought to be as broad as they are high. But in violation of this rule, at the corner columns triglyphs are placed at the outside edges and not corresponding to the centre of the columns. Hence the metopes next to the corner columns do not come out perfectly square, but are too broad by half the width of a triglyph. Those who would make the metopes all alike, make the outermost intercolumniations narrower by half the width of a triglyph. But the result is faulty, whether it is attained by broader metopes or narrower intercolumniations. For this reason, the ancients appear to have avoided the scheme of the Doric order in their temples.